Appeals Court: Jefferson Co. employee was harassed

Published 5:45 pm, Thursday, August 6, 2015

The Ninth Court of Appeals last week agreed with a jury that a former Jefferson County employee was harassed after she testified against a justice of the peace but cut her award in half.

Ha Penny Nguyen sued the county in 2013, alleging she was retaliated against by Justice of the Peace Tom Gillam and his staff. Nguyen said the harassment occurred after she testified against former Justice of the Peace Thurman Bartie, a political ally of Gillam's, according to the justices' opinion released July 31.

The trial jury found for Nguyen and awarded her $400,000.

The county appealed, citing insufficient evidence, and requested a new trial, which the appeals court denied. The court did rule that the jury's award should be reduced to $200,000.

According to the justices' opinion, Bartie was called before a state tribunal and banned from the judiciary in 2003 after complaints were filed against him for offensive courtroom behavior.

Gillam ran for Bartie's former position and won.

According to the appeals court's ruling, Rick Bienvenu, who lost the election to Gillam, testified in court that he heard Bartie tell other candidates his staff had backstabbed him when they testified and that "no matter what, you should get rid of these people."

Bartie denied making the statement, and Bartie and Gillam both testified that they were not friends or political allies, according to the ruling.